


Memento

by Fishykarp



Category: RWBY
Genre: Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 19:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18857767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fishykarp/pseuds/Fishykarp
Summary: Fox is gone. Yatsuhashi is gone. Coco... Coco is gone.At least she still has something to remember them by.





	Memento

“Well I’ll be…”

The still-screaming carcass of the Nuckelavee rose in a column of smoke, fading into nothingness as it rose. The inhabitants of the village gathered around it in wary excitement. It took a few moments for it to register, the beast that had been raiding their village for months now, was dead. As the central courtyard erupted into cheer, one villager turned to the huntress.  
The leader, the one who spoke before, Velvet recognised. “We can’t thank you enough, if there’s anything we can do-“  
Velvet cut him off. “The Grimm is dead, but the fire is still spreading. If you can stop it from spreading across the main roads, we can keep it contained to this small area.”  
The leader of the town nodded, turning back towards the other members of the village and giving orders. Velvet smiled, moving away from the crowd.   
  
She made her way back to an alley, a few blocks from the fight. She scanned the darkness, her advanced sight allowing her to quickly find what she was looking for. An old knapsack half-buried by rubble. _No no no no no no no no no  
_ She scrambled toward it, pulling a large rock from the top of it. No evident damage, good. Velvet opened it and began pulling things out. Camping supplies, some now-ruined food, _where was it?_  
Finally, she retrieved her photo album, complete intact. It was an old-timey leather album. The rest of her team had gotten it for her one day, years ago. Coco had said it “matched her aesthetic” or something. Her ears drooped at the mention of Coco. Reaching back in the knapsack, Velvet retrieved a framed photo. It looked like nothing special, just Coco and Velvet laughing, carrying a tower of bags from a shopping trip.

 

But Velvet remembered that day well. It took Coco months to convince her to come out of her shell, and even then, Velvet felt bad spending Coco’s money.  
“It’s a gift,” Coco had said. “It’d be rude not to take it.”  
So that was that. In the span of four hours, they burned a warpath through Vale’s shopping district. By the end, Velvet and Coco were both carrying a dozen bags back to Beacon. (Coco had bought more, but they decided to split the weight evenly). As the crossed through the main plaza though, Velvet must’ve gotten distracted, because she tripped and fell head-first into the fountain.

Velvet blushed in embarrassment as she continued reminiscing. Everyone around them were laughing at here, until Coco glared them into silence. Velvet had apologised profusely, she must’ve been carrying two thousand lien worth of clothes that was now in the fountain, but Coco just laughed it off.  
“Hey, that doesn’t matter.”

“It- it doesn’t?”  
“No,” Coco had said. “Today wasn’t fun because of the stuff we got. It was fun because I finally got to spend some quality time with you.”  
“R-really?” Velvet blushed. “But- there’s nothing special about me. I- I can barely stand up for myself, I’m nearly useless in a fight, and I just ruined all of your things and I can’t even pay you back.”  
Coco laughed. “Velvet, I don’t care about any of that. You’re smart, nice, fun, and you’re you. What else could I ask for in a friend?”  


“um... Miss Huntress?”  
Velvet put the photo back into her knapsack, and turned to the source of the voice. “Yes?”  
“Uh- the fire is under control now. We were all wondering if we could do anything for us. I mean- for saving us and everything. Like Lien or something?”  
Velvet smiled. “I think I’m fine, but a place to stay would be nice.”  
“Oh! The inn, you could stay there. We haven’t had much traffic since the big Grimm came appeared, but we could prepare a room for you.”  
“That’d be fantastic. Thank you.”

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

Velvet practically fell onto her bed in the inn. Grimm, she could handle, but a whole afternoon of awkward responses to “thank you”s was exhausting. It did feel good, though. To personally talk to all the people that she was helping. It made her feel like she was really making a difference, even the occasional “you’re pretty cool, for a Faunus,” didn’t really affect her.

She got up, taking three candles out of her bag, and placed them by the windowsill. She set the photo of herself and Coco beside it. The scent of the Forever Fall filled the room as she lit the scented candles. Yatsuhashi had taught her how to make them, they helped her relax after a particularly difficult mission, or if the stress of life just caught up to her on any day.

But she didn’t have much time to relax now, as the entire wall of the Inn crumbled down, and a Sphinx Grimm burst inside. Velvet tried summoning a weapon, but none came. _Crap. Camera’s empty._ _  
_ She glanced down to her knapsack, reaching to retrieve her photo album. Before she could get it, the Sphinx launched a ball of fire that sent Velvet flying out of the window. Beside her, landed the album, on fire, useless. Turning the pages desperately, she tried to find any photo with a clear weapon. _Please. Just one. Any one._

 

As if answering her prayer, one last photo dropped from the roof. One encased in a protective picture frame, that remained completely intact from the fall. _No. Not that one._  


Velvet assessed her options. She had no other way to fight a Sphinx, and she couldn’t leave this town to be destroyed. But this was more than just a photo of her and Coco. It was the last one. Every other photo was used up, their scrolls were destroyed at Beacon. If this one disappeared, so did Coco.

No. There was no way she could abandon the village. Coco wouldn't want that.

The people come first.

 

Careful to focus on the burning building, Sphinx still within, she removed the picture from the frame. With shaking hands, she inserted it into her camera, which flashed with a faint blue light. It was gone. 

In Velvet’s arms materialised a handbag, heavy and ornate. It was like, the last part of Coco, and soon it’d be gone. She might as well make use of it.

The Sphinx burst through the wall above her, and descended down upon her. She felt the delicate mechanisms of the handbag begin to change. Raising the minigun of Coco Adel, Velvet blocked out the tears streaming down her face, and fired.

 

Coco would be proud. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hoo boy, that was a thing to write. I actually got this idea from Amity Arena (the RWBY mobile game), which stated outright that Velvet loses her photos when using them. I guess that makes complete sense based on how her weapon worked but I never really thought about it in that way. 
> 
> So yeah, that inspired me to write this, and the idea's just been simmering in my mind for the past few weeks. I just decided to write it now. I'm not sure how well I wrote this, especially the ending, but I hope you like it. Like I've said before, any review and especially any constructive criticism are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading, have a great day


End file.
